It's Stranger
by saraiza
Summary: Mike Wheeler couldn't believe what he was hearing. He has a twin brother, an identical twin brother who's...who's the exact opposite of him. Loud and foulmouthed, Richie Tozier has a side to him that Mike doesn't understand, and a part of him doesn't want to know.
1. Beep-Beep, Richie

It's Stranger

So, I don't own _IT _or _Stranger Things_...Damn.

Summary: Mike Wheeler couldn't believe what he was hearing. He has a twin brother, an identical twin brother who's...who's the exact opposite of him. Loud and foulmouthed, Richie Tozier has a side to him that Mike doesn't understand, and a part of him doesn't want to know.

Note: Set after season two of _Stranger Things _and after the 2017 version of _IT_. For the purpose of this story, everything takes place in 1989. Oh, and this rated M due to language.

* * *

_1989_

For once, everything was perfect. At least, for 13-year-old Mike Wheeler, it was. He had gotten his dance with El at the Snow Ball last school years, and his friends were all safe after El closed the gate to the Upside Down, trapping the Mind Flayer inside.

The only downside to everything was that summer was ending. and school was going to be starting soon.

_"At least El will be there this year," _Mike thought to himself as he tied his shoes. He was in the basement. El's pillow fort was still up, and the campaign from last night's _Dungeons & Dragons _was still up.

Mike smiled as he looked at El's Mage.

_"Mike!" _

Mike looked up towards the wooden staircase. "Yeah, Mom?"

_"Can you come upstairs please?" _Karen Wheeler's called out. _"I...I have something to tell you."_

Mike groaned but came out without much complaint. He walked up to the stairs and all but dragged himself towards the living room.

* * *

His father was nowhere in sight. Mike figured that he must have already left for work. Holly was on the ground by the window, playing with a doll she had received for Christmas. Nancy was sitting on the couch, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, though somehow managing to fall into her face. Her chin was resting on her clasped hands, her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward.

His mother was standing by the television. She wore makeup, but Mike only knew this because his mother had dark tear stains trailing down her face. Still, she forced a smile on her face when Mike entered.

"Sit down dear," Mike's mother said to her middle child.

Mike glanced at Nancy as he sat down next to her. She shrugged in response as she sat straighter.

"What's going on, Mom?" Nancy asked after removing her chin from her hands.

Their mother's smile fell and she looked at Mike. He could see that she wasn't trying to cry but failed as a new set of mascara-stained tears rolled down her face.

"You...We..." their mother took a deep, shaky breath as she attempted to compose herself. "You have a twin brother, Mike."

"What?" Mike said before he could think. "What do you mean_—I have a_ _what?"_

"A twin brother," Mike's mother said, her lips twitching as though it didn't know whether to go upwards or downwards. "When...When you both were born, I had a friend named Maggie. She couldn't have children, you see. She and her husband tried for years, but nothing came out of it." Mrs. Wheeler paused as she wiped the tear stains off her face with a white handkerchief. She only managed to smear it across her face even more.

"When I found out that I was having twins," Mike's mother continued. "I gave Maggie a call. Told her I would be willing to give her one of my babies."

"Why?" Nancy demanded, staring at her mother. "Why would you give away one of your own kids?"

"I didn't think I could do it," Their mother admitted as she looked away from her two eldest children. "Your father, he's never been much help when it came to you kids, and I didn't think I could take care of three kids who would all need me. You were barely in preschool, Nancy, and still demanded a lot of my attention. I knew that when I gave birth, I'd run myself dead having to make sure you and two infant boys were taken care of properly.

"I knew that Maggie would take good care of your brother," she continued. "She was always good with kids," she lightly laughed. "She loved babysitting you, Nancy. She was a good person." Her smile faltered. "We fell out of contact after she and her husband moved to Maine. It wasn't until last night did I know anything about what had happened to them."

Mike frowned as he found his voice. "What do you mean? What happened?"

Mike's mother looked at her son, tears continuing. "Maggie and her husband died last week in a car crash. Your father, he left this morning to go get your brother."

* * *

The scar's still as red as it was the day fucking Bill Denbrough slashed the shard of glass across his right palm. Sometimes, Richie could swear that it still was bleeding, the sting never left.

He looked away from his hand and quietly found his suitcase resting against the wooden bench in the park, along with his backpack. The suitcase had been his father's, but now it was his because he was dead. Him and his mother, they were as dead as dead can fucking be.

Or, at least his adoptive parents were fucking dead. Learning that he was adopted was more shocking to Richie Tozier then his parent's deaths.

"Hey, Richie," the thick coke-bottle bespectacled boy heard. He looked up and saw Eddie Kaspbrak walking towards him. He sat down next to Richie. "You're leaving?" He briefly wondered where the rest of the Losers Club was at, before remembering that he had specifically told them to not come or else he'd fucking cut them all out of his will. Still, they all said their goodbyes, all but Eddie though, and now he knew why.

Richie nodded, grimacing at the upset tone his friend revealed as he spoke. "They tracked down the fuckers who gave me away. I guess they're feeling guilty or some sort of shit. I mean, why else would they come and get me?" His lips twitched and half-heartedly let out a terrible impression of a chipper, high-pitched woman. "Oh look, a new charity case! Quick, let's take him back before we're seen as cold-hearted bastards!"

"Beep-beep, Richie," Eddie quietly said as he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"It's not like they were the best parents in the world," Richie said as he looked down, clenching his scarred hand. "But at least they wanted me."

Neither boy said anything until they both heard a honking noise. They turned and saw a man with brown hair and large glasses.

"So that's where I fucking get it from," Richie commented before looking at Eddie.

"Beep-beep, Richie."

Richie snorted. "Sure thing, Eds."

"Don't call me Eds."

The two boys hugged. It wasn't a long hug, but it also wasn't a short one either.

"You better keep in touch," Eddie said once the two boys let go.

"Of course," Richie said as he pulled his backpack up against his back. "Who else is going to give you the talk when your mother-

_"Richie!"_

Richie snickered at this and hugged his friend again before grabbing his suitcase. "Get my bike for me, will ya?"

Eddie nodded and walked towards where Richie had left his bike. When they got to the car, the man got out and awkwardly offered his hand out to Richie.

"You the sperm donor?" Richie asked as he shook the man's hand.

The man frowned but nodded. "Call me Ted." He looked at the boy's things. "Is that everything?"

"Yep," Richie said, popping out the "p."

The man nodded stiffly and helped the two boys put everything into the car. They had to strap the bike to the top of the car, while everything else was in the trunk.

Mr. Wheeler eyed the two boys. "I'll give you both a minute." He left without waiting for either boy's response.

Richie clapped Eddie on the shoulder, grinning as another terrible impression escaped. "Until next time, my dear Watson."

Eddie rolled his eyes as he took the boy's hand off his shoulder. "See you later, Richie."

Richie got into the passenger's seat and closed the door, though his eyes never left Eddie, not until he could no longer see him.

* * *

It wasn't until they were close to leaving town did Richie hear anything that actually interested him.

_"Hey, Trashmouth!"_

_"Tozier!"_

Richie unrolled the window and stuck his head out. The Losers' Club was behind the car, chasing after them on their bikes.

Richie laughed. _"Didn't I tell you all I'd write you out of my god damn will if any of you showed up?"_

Richie ignored the scowl Mr. Wheeler was giving him as the boy watched his friends chase after them.

_"B-beep-beep, Richhhie!"_

Richie smiled, even after his friends stopped chasing after the car. He kept looking back, even as they passed the town's sign, though by then his smile was gone. It left the moment he saw the entrance sign to Derry, Maine.

A single red balloon was tied to the sign.

Oh, fuck.

* * *

So, what do you think? Should I continue?

I know there might be some mistakes, so I apologize.

Please, review, like, and/or follow. That would great.

Until next time...


	2. Language

It's Stranger

So, I don't own IT or Stranger Things...Damn.

Thanks to those who followed, favored and/or reviewed. And, I apologize for being _very_ late with this. I had a bit of writers block when it came to this chapter.

* * *

_Previously..._

_It wasn't until they were close to leaving town did Richie hear anything that actually interested him._

_"Hey, Trashmouth!"_

_"Tozier!"_

_Richie unrolled the window and stuck his head out. The Losers' Club was behind the car, chasing after them on their bikes._

_Richie laughed. "Didn't I tell you all I'd write you out of my god damn will if any of you showed up?"_

_Richie ignored the scowl Mr. Wheeler was giving him as the boy watched his friends chase after them._

_"B-beep-beep, Richhhie!"_

_Richie smiled, even after his friends stopped chasing after the car. He kept looking back, even as they passed the town's sign, though by then his smile was gone. It left the moment he saw the entrance sign to Derry, Maine._

_A single red balloon was tied to the sign._

_Oh, fuck._

* * *

_1989_

The drive was long and awkward. For once, Richie didn't say as much shit that he normally did; nor did Ted, though Richie quickly figured out that the man wasn't accustomed to speaking in general. They only stopped once, to stay at a motel for the night, and pile up on snacks for the road.

"We should be home by dinner," Ted said as they were driving out of Pennsylvania. They had checked into the motel at midnight and left at around four o'clock in the morning. Richie only remembered this because he had complained about it the entire time they were in New York.

"Is it just you and your wife?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Your family," Richie said as he looked at his biological father. "Is it just you and her?"

Ted frowned as he shifted in his seat. "No," He answered. "You have a brother and two sisters."

Richie scowled. "Older or younger?"

"What?"

"Your other kids, are they older or younger than me?"

"Nancy's older, Mike's your age, and Holly is younger," Ted answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

Richie frowned as he looked at the man who was, biologically speaking, his father. The man had an awkward aspect to him, with how his hands and arms were stiff against the steering wheel and his hunched over back tightly pressed against his seat. His lips were almost frozen with its downward curl and he looked as though he'd rather be anywhere but in his car. Richie didn't want to be in the car either, though he'd imagine for different reasons in comparison to Ted.

"I have a twin?"

"Mike," The bespectacled man said. "Mike's your twin brother."

"Jesus fucking Christ."

Ted's head shot in Richie's direction, causing the boy to cringe back into the space that was in between the car door and his seat.

"Don't use that language in front of me, young man," The stranger with half of Richie's genes—or whatever the word was—scolded the 13-year-old. Richie watched as Ted looked away from him, shaking his head as he focused his eyes back on the road. "I don't know how Wentworth and Maggie raised you, but that kind of language isn't accepted in my family."

Richie glared at the man, but for once kept his fucking trash mouth shut. The last thing he felt like doing was pissing off the man who technically didn't have to bring him into his home. At least, until they were in Fucksville, Indiana, or wherever Ted lived with his perfect fucking family.

"Did you know?"

"About what?"

"That you had twins?"

"No."

"How the fuck not?"

The man with large glasses glanced and scowled at the boy before looking back at the road. "My wife, your mother, she had kept you a secret. As far as I had known we were only having one child," Ted paused and cleared his throat. "I wasn't there for the birth. I had been at work when I received the call about Karen going into labor. By the time I got there, she was holding your brother in her arms."

Richie frowned. "Why'd she give me away?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ted admitted as his shoulders jerked. "I found out about you when your mother told me about Maggie and Wentworth, and not another minute later I was in this old rustbucket coming out to get you." The man frowned. "All I know is that my wife was friends with your adoptive mother. Maggie couldn't have kids and knowing Karen, she'd probably thought that it would be okay to give up one of her own without any consequences."

Ted sighed and didn't speak for the rest of the ride back, not that Richie had anything to say after hearing the man's words. He had a lot to think about, though, and for once he was thankful for the silence.

* * *

"What's a twin?" Mike heard El say after he told her, Lucas, Will, and Max about his unsettling discovery. They were in the Wheeler's basement, sitting around the all but forgotten _Dungeons & Dragons _campaign they were supposed to start today. Dustin would have been there, but he was at camp still and wouldn't be back for another week or two.

"A twin is someone who was born on the same day as you," Mike said as he looked at her. Her brown hair was now down to her shoulders, a far cry from what it had been when they first met. How different things had been, and how different they were now. He frowned as he thought of his mother and said, "And has the same parents as you do."

"Why did your mother give him up?" Will asked as he played around with his Cleric piece, twiddling it in-between his fingers as he looked at Mike, who shrugged.

"Apparently because she didn't think that she could take care of three little kids all at once."

"That's not a good excuse," Lucas said, scowling. "A ton of parents have more kids than she does."

"Yeah, but she probably couldn't do it on her own," Max pointed out. "And no offense, Mike, but your dad's not exactly hands-on with you or your sisters."

_"Mike!" _Everyone heard from the door that was at the top of the basement stairs, causing Mike to nearly jump out of his seat. It was Nancy's voice. _"They're here!"_

Mike grimaced as he stood up from his spot on the worn-out couch. He looked at his friends and said, "You guys wanna meet him?"

"Did you seriously have to ask?" Mike heard Max say as they all stood up.

Lucas smirked. "Let's go see if this brother of yours can compete with your—"

_"Mike, let's go!"_

Mike frowned as he turned his head towards the stairs and yelled, _"I'm coming!"_

"Let's hope he's not like Nancy," Max joked, causing Mike to look at her in horror.

"Don't joke about that, please."

El, to Mike's surprise, laughed and took Mike's hand, causing him to look at her. "Let's hope he's not a mouth breather," She said and Mike smiled as he let out a laugh of his own.

Not bothering to let go of El's hand, Mike went up the stairs and his friends followed.

* * *

Nancy eyed her father's car as it pulled into the garage as she stood off to the side of the door with her mother and Holly. She could see her father perfectly clear, with his large glasses on his clearly uncomfortable-looking face. She couldn't see the boy though. Richard, her mother had said his name was after she told Nancy and Mike about him. Richard Tozier.

Looking away from the car, Nancy watched as Mike and his band of misfits came out through the garage door that led into the kitchen. She watched Mike carefully, taking in his nervous appearance as he walked towards her with El, who was holding his hand, and his friends. Apart of her wanted to tell Mike's friends to leave, they didn't fit in their little family reunion if Nancy could even call it that.

Nancy looked away as she heard the car's engine stop and watched as her father awkwardly made his way out of the driver's seat after he opened his door.

Nancy watched as her mom kept her eyes on the car as the front passenger door opened and closed with a lazy but loud slam. Nancy quickly glanced at her dad, who was frowning at her mother. Nancy figured her dad was upset with her mom, and she couldn't blame him. Hell, she herself was pissed about what her mother did, she couldn't even begin to imagine what her dad was feeling.

"Holy shit!" Nancy heard. Startled, she looked away from her dad and her eyes landed on Mike, whose eyes were wide with shock but it didn't appear as though he had said anything.

Nancy's heart began to pound against her chest as she turned away from her brother and looked back at the car, where a boy identical to Mike was standing.

His dark hair was messier than Mike's, and his brown eyes were hidden by a pair of ugly coke-bottle glasses. He had on a pair of worn-out blue jeans and an orange t-shirt. His shoes were scuffed and covered in mud-stains. She frowned, wondering if her mother's dead friend had ever noticed the boy's dirty appearance.

"Holy fucking shit," Richard said as he stared at Mike before his head shot up towards Nancy's dad. "You didn't tell me he was my fucking clone. What the fuck?"

Nancy's mouth dropped, both amazed and shocked at the boy's vulgar mouth. Did he speak like that to his adoptive parents? Nancy wondered as she closed her mouth and watched as the boy walked away and went towards the trunk and opened it up, grabbing his torn up backpack that looked as though it had recently survived a tornado or dog attack with all the ducktape covered tears and broken zippers.

"What have said about your language, Richard?" Nancy heard her father say, she could hear the frustration in his voice as though he had a similar conversation with the boy during their ride back home.

The boy, Richard, scowled. "Richie, old man," Mike's twin brother, her brother, said as he pulled on the straps of his backpack. His feet were bouncing back and forth, as though he was about to burst with energy. Nancy couldn't blame him, she imagined the drive from wherever he came from had been boring, especially with her dad behind the wheel. He never was one to make a conversation last long, if at all.

Nancy watched as her father frowned and glanced at her mother before he turned and walked into the house.

Shit, Nancy thought as she looked at her mother, who looked as though she were about to cry. She frowned and looked at Mike and his friends, who all looked awkward at the exchange between her parents and Richie.

"So you're the lady who gave me up?" Nancy heard Richie say as he walked towards her mother and Holly.

Nancy's mother frowned and bit her lip, but nodded as Nancy knew there was no way she could sugarcoat anything. Not this time.

"I am," Mrs. Wheeler said as she attempted to smile and failed. "Hi," She paused. "Richie."

Richie saluted Nancy's mother before he looked at Nancy, Mike, and his friends. "Jesus, did you invite the entire neighborhood or something?"

"They're my friends," Mike said, frowning as he motioned towards his friends before he awkwardly held out his right hand for Richie to shake. "I'm Mike."

A wide grin appeared on Richie's face. "Top of the morning, Mike," He said with an awful accent. Nancy wanted to say it was an Irish accent, though it was anything but that. "So what'd ya do to get the two-story house and semi-functional family while I got stuck with dead people for parents and a clown-infested town?"

"What?"

Richie snickered. "Oh, this is going to be an absolute nightmare for me, isn't it?" he said with his normal accent. He then grabbed Mike's right hand with both hands and shook it as though he liked Mike, though Nancy couldn't tell if that was the case or not.

"Ah..." Mike said before Richie let go of his hand and looked at Nancy.

"And you must be one of the sister's Ted mentioned," Richie said.

"My name's Nancy," Nancy said and politely held out her hand, to which Richie shook with just his right hand and not both this time.

"Richie Tozier, but my friends call me Trashmouth," Richie said before he looked at Mike and his friends and continued speaking. "Don't call me that cuz' we're not friends. I may look like Mikey there, but I ain't him."

"That's clear as day," Max Mayfield retorted as she stared at Richie with an impassive look.

Richie snickered, clearly amused by Max. "You remind me of my friend Bev."

"Why? Does she not take your crap either?"

"No, because you're a redhead like her and have terrible taste in friends."

* * *

So, what do you think?

I know there might be some mistakes, so I apologize.

Please, review, like, and/or follow. That would great.

Until next time...

Review(s):

Guest (June 14, 2019): Thanks for the review. Yeah, I've noticed that there are other stories like this, but I wanted to try my hand at it.

Guest (July 18, 2018): Thanks for the review. I'm glad I have the characters down, I was worried about that bit.

FanGirl: Thanks for the review.

Guest (September 23, 2019): Thanks for the review.


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